Pro Windows Server AppFabric

by Stephen Kaufman

This book will teach you all about Windows Application Server (code-named “Dublin”), a set of extensions to Windows Server that allow it to function as a lightweight application server. Windows Application Server provides an easy-to-manage platform for developing, deploying, and reliably hosting middle-tier WCF/WF services.

Windows Application Server fills an important vacuum left in the wake of COM and COM+’s demise as the .NET platform has risen to prominence. Provided as an extension to Internet Information Services (IIS), the built-in application server frees you from having to create your own Windows services to perform application hosting. Instead, you can take advantage of plumbing and infrastructure that Microsoft provides for you, freeing you to focus on just your business logic while still being able to deploy n-tier solutions on Windows Server. In this way, Windows Application Server solves the problem of developing, deploying, and reliably hosting middle-tier WCF/WF services.

If you’re an experienced developer, you’ll want to learn about Windows Application Server fast, without a lot of reading. And that’s what this book is all about. It cuts to the chase and shows you the simplicity and elegance that combine to form Windows Application Server, getting you up to speed fast so that you can take advantage of all the platform has to offer.

What you’ll learn



Deploy Windows Application Server (aka “Dublin”) as your middle-tier application host.

Incorporate Windows Application Server’s built-in functionality into your WCF- and WF-based .NET applications.

Design your applications to scale and perform in highly available environments, and learn use advanced Windows Application Server features such as content-based and forward routing, long-running transactions, message activity monitoring, and tracking.

Understand Windows Application Server’s architecture, and know when it is best used, and when you should look at other solutions, such as BizTalk Server.

Understand the Windows Application Server roadmap and how Windows Application Server relates to other new Microsoft technologies, such as .NET 4.0, Oslo, and WCF/WF 4.0.

Upgrade existing applications to Windows Application Server and take advantage of its architecture and features.



Who this book is for



.NET developers (including WCF and WF developers)

BizTalk developers

This book is aimed at .NET and BizTalk Server developers who desire a middleware application server platform that simplifies the deployment, configuration, management, and scalability of composite applications while allowing developers to use their existing skills with Visual Studio, the .NET Framework, and Internet Information Services (IIS). The book is especially applicable to those who want to leverage the .NET Framework 4.0 and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) and Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) technologies.

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 5, 2010